Man City have confirmed that Robinho will be sidelined for at least another three weeks with his ankle injury.
The news arrives on the back of a sparkling performance from Martin Petrov on the left flank in the 3-1 win over West Ham last night, handing Mark Hughes a large spoonful of Bulgarian sugar to sweeten this latest bitter injury pill.
Petrov will be expected to hold his place in the starting lineup for the trip to Villa this weekend, although Hughes will likely shuffle his pack, with Stephen Ireland expected to be fit following a stomach bug which saw him miss out last night. His return could see De Jong drop to the bench, although Hughes may keep the defensive Dutchman in his central midfield, shifting Ireland out wide for the tricky trip to Villa Park.
Should Petrov maintain a starting role, he appears to offer some potential. He has some strong short-term fixtures (avl wig FUL bir BUR) and could offer value as a differential in the mid-price midfield bracket. Petrov is priced at 6.7 in the Fantasy Premier League game after suffering a series of early season price drops but will likely attract interest off the back of his returns last night of a goal, an assist and two FPL bonus points. Rotation at Eastlands is a major concern however, particularly amongst Hughes’ attacking players.